Backlash over scantily clad women at game developers party (UPDATED)

The use of “booth babes” has long been tolerated at tech trade shows as companies employed sparsely attired women to draw attention to their products, despite ongoing criticism that the practice objectifies women.

And indeed, women in revealing outfits were in a few booths inside last week’s Game Developers Conference, and they were pitching an energy drink outside the Moscone Convention Center at Fourth and Howard streets as well.

But news that three scantily clad dancers at one supposedly professional after-hours party last week caused a backlash that demonstrates the growing voice of women within the traditionally male-dominated video game industry.

The Tuesday night party at Ruby Skye, organized by the International Game Designers Association and San Francisco game incubator YetiZen, included at one at one point “at least three girls in white outfits–one was in a skimpy t-shirt one was in this weird furry get-up–dancing,” according to a Forbes blog, which quoted student developer Alicia Avril.

The blog also had a fuzzy photo taken by Avril, who also said there were women on stilts dancing in the crowd. “I walked in there not expecting that sort of display,” Avril said.

That news prompted prominent game designer Brenda Romero to announce via Twitter on Thursday that she had immediately resigned as co-chair of the IGDA’s Women in Games special interest group. The backlash took on a life of its own as word spread on Twitter and Facebook.

“I woke up to direct messages, texts, and links to news of the IGDA party,” Romero told the video game website Polygon. “It really saddens me. I have been a long-time supporter of the IGDA. However, my silence would have been complicity. I had no choice.”

[GDC attendees react to criticism over violent video games - in Sunday's Business section]

Web designer Darius Kazemi also resigned from the IGDA’s board in protest, although he only had three days left in his term anyway. But in a tweet, he noted he already had reservations about working YetiZen because of the furor over last year’s party that had topless, body painted women.

The backlash comes at a time when women are pushing to make the industry and the games more inclusive.

Indeed, Romero took part in a rousing panel discussion, along with a Twitter discussion #1ReasonWhy, on why more women should get into the game industry. She also received a lifetime achievement award at the conference.

And women waiting in a long line for the bathroom applauded because in past years, there weren’t enough women attending the GDC to create those long lines.

But in this day and age, women still face sexism and harassment within the industry, which is egregious especially at a time when women make up 47 percent of the game-playing audience.

IDGA President Kate Edwards issued an immediate apology over the party.

“We recognize that some of the performers’ costumes at the party were inappropriate, and also some of the activities they performed were not what we expected or approved,” she wrote. “We regret that the IGDA was involved in this situation. We do not condone activities that objectify or demean women or any other group of people. One of the core values of the IGDA is encouraging inclusion and diversity. Obviously, we need to be more vigilant in our efforts. We intend to be so in the future.”

YetiZen CEO Sana Choudary did not immediately comment other than tweeting that she would release a statement on Saturday.

“YetiZen did not hire dancers. We hired avid gamers, who happened to be models, to discuss gaming with the invited guests. The YetiZen team (myself, my co-founder, and our resident artist) were invited by the rappers, along with our gamer-models, to dance for a few minutes on stage.”

She also said the IGDA did approve all entertainment before the party and blamed Romero, Kazemi and “The Press” for misrepresenting a “relaxed social occasion.”

“I understand the challenges of being a woman in what has been a male dominated environment,” she wrote. “I believe that most of us want to live in a world of equality. I also believe we are making progress towards that. The recent incident referred to above does nothing towards progressing this equality. The clarification of the purported issue could have been managed by a private phone call or email rather than the sensationalized media attack that it has become.”